The Archaic Period
the most tragic situations. More than a hundred of statues survive, either whole or in large fragments, ranging in height from an average 1.5m or so to an exceptional 3.35m. Both the kouroiand korai were depicted at the moment when The korai, their female counterparts in sculpture, served to discover draped modeling and were generally considered to represent Persephone. Invariably they were dressed in ornate and colorful costumes, had natural coloring and very elaborate hair styles.
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The first period was strongly influenced by the works of the ancient Egyptians. However, in the course of the 7th century sculptors began to raise the problem of the male and the feminine types which was the first step to modeling kouroi and korai. These were free-standing archaic nude statues of youths.They usually stood very erect with their feet together and a blank stare on their face as Ancient Greek believed that suppression of the emotions was a noble characteristic of all civilized men, while public display of human feelings was a sign of barbarism. Logic and reason were to dominate humans even in the course of Kleobis and Biton
the body was just on the point of reaching maturity. However, the naked kouros served for the discovery of anatomic modeling. All of them stood in the same stiff attitude, head held high, and eyes to the front, arms hanging down with fists clenched. In male figures emphasis was placed on breadth of shoulders, athletic development of pectoral and calf muscles, narrowness of waist, hardness of knee, roundness of thigh and buttock.Kouroistatues always wore, at most, a belt and occasionally, boots.
